It is true that a customer looks at appearance, cleanliness of equipment brought into their home as well as the respect of the technician. I think it is important simply because image makes a big difference with trusting someone who is coming into your home. If your tech's look good and equipment is clean and working properly then they believe you will care about and for their home in a proper & respectful way.

At Clean10x we constantly keep our van clean and organized. We have uniforms with our certificate badges. We feel appearance is very important, specially on the first meeting. You need to look and act professional. After that you need to do a great job. Don't cut corners and give your client more than they paid for. and guarantee your work.

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JC

10/16/2014 04:26:23 am

I agree, good points! But what about your telephone skills? I think that's often ignored and it can be a problem for many companies.

That is equally as important. That is the clients very first impression of your company. If they aren't wowed on the phone, they may not choose to schedule with you. At that point, it doesn't really matter what your field crew look like.

We often think about (and talk about) this. Because we are business owners who are also consumers. We have service people in our home from time to time, we know the impression we get immediately by the persons appearance as well as the vehicle they are driving and tools/equipment. A clean, odor free, neat appearance is very important to us, and that's what we want our clients to experience as well. If the technicians (as well as ourselves) meet our expectations as a consumer, our clients will be equally pleased. If we expect it, why would we not provide it?

You only have one chance to make a first impression. It is either good or bad. If it is good... you are so much better off, especially if there are any problems later on. If it is bad...you are almost automatically under the microscope and if a problem does come up, the customer will be reinforced that they made a mistake hiring you. Good first impressions are critical to the customer feeling they found the right service provider. Being on time, personal appearance, showing respect, being polite, a clean vehicle and equipment are all critical to making the first impression positive. Why would anyone NOT want to take the steps necessary to do everything within their power to stack the deck in your favor?

All day, I ask myself, what does she think of this, how does he see that. What do they think of the tech ripping hose around their walnut moulding? (Happened yesterday). I always try and think like the consumer. When someone comes to my house to perform a service I watch everything they do and see how I feel about it.

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jimmy littleton

10/16/2014 06:47:17 am

sounds like everyone that has commented feels as I do. Appearance definitely does matter.I dress well and keep all of my equipment spotless. When customers see my rig they are always impressed and have nothing but good things to say about it. Customers definitely notice these things.

I started from go to rethink my Chem-Dry's image. So I used our 6 year old son and a brown lab puppy as the images, and continue to focus on babies, dogs, kitties and women as the way of seeing who we are. I am my customer! I know what I like, so I try to portray that. And I think like many of my ideal customers would -- try to get inside their lives.

We are in the cleaning business and if we can not keep our van clean that speaks volume about us.We are always are on time clean van and clean uniforms.Our signature is a Free loaf of Homemade Zucchini bread.. We are well known in Northern California for our bread Everybody talks about it and people will not forget you.We did 1200 Loaves last year and are booked 2 weeks out..

The overall image of your business is everything! We often ask those who support our business like family and friends, to give us their HONEST opinions of our services, practice and how we present ourselves. We also, have looked at other successful companies outside of the carpet cleaning industry and try to make adjustments to fit our needs. Also, branding is very important! We work really hard out in the field AND behind the scenes...in the office...to give our customers the complete package. I believe it is paying off because we have excellent reviews and return customers.

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Jeff Cross is the executive editor of Cleanfax and an IICRC-approved instructor. He can be reached at (740)973-4236 or by email (click here)​